Graylu Fluff Week 2017
by ImpracticalDemon
Summary: Rated T for now. Graylu Fluff Week 2017 prompts; *connected*. Lucy and Gray have finally decided to get together as a couple. They discover that there's a bit more to being lovers than just saying the words. [Day 1: Play Date] [Day 2: Winter] Day 3: Piggyback [Day 4: Warm and Fuzzy]; Graylu Week 2017 [Graylu Day Day 6: Prompt Fragrance] NOW RATED M for FINAL CHAPTER
1. Play Date

**Graylu Fluff Week 2017**

 **Day 1 Prompt: Play Date**

* * *

"So, I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast at the guildhall?" Gray asked.

"Sure, sounds good," Lucy answered, for the fifth morning in a row. The exchange had become a nightly ritual, and Lucy couldn't quite decide if that was a good thing or not.

Each of them had finally decided that enough was enough, so last month, in January, exactly eighteen days ago (although nobody was counting), each of them had managed to blurt out a shy but sincere confession to the other. Of course, neither of them had been able to hear the other person, since they were talking at the same time, but eventually it had gotten sorted out. They had spent most of their free time together ever since, as if making up for lost time, and Lucy was surprised by how much happier and relaxed she felt just knowing that Gray was there for her and finally knew how she felt.

Although Gray wasn't the most demonstrative boyfriend—at least, not in public—he was very considerate. Lucy felt genuinely cared for, which was wonderful. For example, Gray made sure that Lucy got to walk on the smoothest part of the path when they were outside. If they were sitting with a big group of people, he would make sure that she had a comfortable seat and wasn't perched precariously on the edge of a bench. If they'd been placed at a table that had a chair with wobbly legs, Gray would fix the problem _and_ take the wobbly chair just in case.

Unfortunately, Lucy was beginning to realize that there was something wrong. They'd been going out together for less than three weeks, but something was missing. Worse, she had a feeling that Gray felt the same way. As embarrassing as it was, Lucy decided to seek expert advice.

"I'm—I just don't understand. It wasn't like this when we were just friends and teammates. I can't quite explain it, but it feels like we used to laugh more, you know?"

Mirajane nodded understandingly at Lucy. Although Mira wasn't really more than a couple of years older than most of the people she listened to, counseled, and occasionally pushed into relationships for their own good, she behaved as though she was everyone's mother and most people simply went along with it. _Probably because it's comforting_ , Lucy thought.

"You know," said Mirajane in a considering tone, "you're both an unusual combination of serious and playful. I suspect that this is just a case of honeymoon jitters."

"Honeymoon?! We're not even engaged!" Lucy was almost too confused to blush, but not quite. She felt her cheeks redden. "Um, I mean, we're just—you know—starting to get to know each other a bit better? Other than as just friends, I mean." Lucy frowned for a moment. "Although I don't like the expression 'just friends', because friends are really important to me as well."

Mirajane smiled fondly at the other woman. Lucy had her flaws—they all did—but she truly embodied Fairy Tail's most important precept: that the bonds of friendship were at the core of their strength.

"I tend to refer to the early days of any romantic relationship as the honeymoon phase. I didn't mean to startle you." There was a glint in Mirajane's eye that suggested that she had already thought about Lucy and Gray's wedding, honeymoon and possibly children, but she managed to keep most of that off her face, so Lucy let it slide.

"You're going to have to explain what you mean, Mira," Lucy said, trying to brace herself for whatever frank comments Fairy Tail's hostess was about to make.

"Sure. It's not meant to be complicated. I've noticed that most people get along well at the beginning of a relationship because both parties are trying hard to please the other person. Eventually, that wears off a bit, and they start behaving more normally again, which means more arguments, usually, but also more…" Mirajane paused, searching for a word. "… Well, more excitement, I guess, although that's not quite it either. It's a quirk that humans have: most of us don't want to be handled with kid gloves all of the time. The trick is to find the right balance."

Mirajane watched Lucy trace a design on the top of the bar with her finger. Unlike others, the oldest Strauss sibling didn't underestimate Lucy's intelligence, so she thought that Lucy would probably figure out for herself what was going on, now that she'd been pointed in the right direction.

"I think," said Lucy slowly, "what you're saying is that we're not being entirely ourselves with each other—we're being careful and kind and that's great, but we're not doing any of the crazier things that we've done for so long as teammates. And we've kind of _lost_ that connection. Or maybe misplaced it."

"Is that a possibility?" Mirajane asked.

"Maybe," said Lucy. "In which case we need to get out and have some fun—not exactly a date, more like a play date." She looked at Mirajane and suddenly giggled. "Oh for the gods' sake I sound like we're five!"

Her confidant laughed. "Play like you're five, if you must—not in here!—but remember that you're adults and there are more, ah, adult ways to play once you're done with being five."

"Mira! I don't want to hear it, okay? We're working on that." Lucy's blush deepened again.

"If you're calling it work—"

"Enough! Thank you! I'm out of here!"

* * *

The playground was covered in a thin layer of snow. It was deserted, other than by Lucy, who sat on one of the icy swings twirling absently first in one direction and then the other. She was rapidly coming to the conclusion that this was a dumb idea. Maybe she'd taken the whole concept too literally and—

"Hey Luce! Jeez you look cold…" Suddenly Gray's voice went from concerned to teasing. "You need a push? You don't seem to be getting far."

Lucy opened her mouth to respond and then gasped as strong arms pulled the swing a _long_ way back—and higher than Gray could have reached without some ice magic—and then let go. For a moment, she thought she was going to go shooting straight off the seat, but her gloved hands tightened around the thin chains holding up the swing and she only slid a little at the top of the arc. The downward curve was fast enough to make her feel a slight swoop in her stomach. Then she noticed the almost transparent webbing of ice keeping her somewhat more safely in place, closed her eyes, and enjoyed the ride.

Not too long afterwards, Gray brought the swing to a halt and Lucy all but toppled into his arms trying to stand up. Her legs felt a bit rubbery but she was grinning. Gray hesitated a moment, then smiled back. He gave Lucy a quick kiss on the lips, and then rubbed his hands together and looked around.

"So, I have absolutely no idea what we're doing in a kids' playground, but since there aren't any kids around, maybe we can jazz things up a little."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well, um, better swings and… a really good slide… and…"

Lucy stood and watched as Gray transformed the park around them. He completely redid the swings, turned the slide into a fabulous twisting, curving dragon of ice and the industrial plastic playhouse-fort went from being dismal to awe-inspiring. Eventually, she had to tug on Gray's arm to get his attention.

"This is awesome but what's it for?"

He looked stymied for a moment, the turned a bit red.

"I thought, since you wanted to come here, it might as well have a bit more to it, you know?"

"The playhouse has towers! Gray, it's amazing! And I so want to try the slide. But wasn't that an awful lot of magic power?"

They gazed around at the park, which was now a glittering children's fantasy out of ice, complete with—as Lucy had pointed out—a turreted castle.

Lucy shivered slightly. Gray didn't look the least bit cold, but with all the ice, the park was now distinctly chilly.

"Oh, sor—"

"Don't!" cried Lucy. "Don't apologize! This is great—I'm fine, I'll be fine."

"Okay… Um, as for the power, well I kind of needed to train anyway." Gray's mouth quirked back into a smile. "I, uh, haven't been fighting Natsu so much lately, so it's good to stretch a bit."

"Yeah. I guess spending time with me is kind of getting in the way of—"

"No way, don't say it! I really, really want to spend time with you."

They looked at each other for a few moments.

"Slide?" asked Lucy, just as Gray was about to speak. "Then try out the swings?"

The slide was just as amazing as it looked and wide enough to go down together. Unfortunately, by Lucy's third trip down she really was shivering. Gray scooped her up, tucked his own coat around her over the too-light jacket that she'd worn, and fastened her scarf more firmly. She laughed as she stood there with Gray doing up the too-big coat right to her chin.

"Seriously, Gray, I really do feel like a little kid with their mom putting on all the poofy extra layers!"

Gray gave her a cautious look then burst out laughing as well.

"To be honest, Lucy… do you remember the other me—I mean from Edolas?"

"That bad?!" Lucy tried to swat him on the arm, but it was fairly ineffective. She had to admit, he looked very, very good standing there in the fairy-ice park wearing nothing but his favourite jeans and a close-fitting dark t-shirt.

"Okay, really, you just look super-cute in my coat. I may have to loan it to you." He hugged her close, despite being out where anyone could see. "Shall we tour the castle, princess?"

"In a minute."

Lucy moved just enough so that she could look up at Gray. She was good at reading, writing, and talking about things, but right now… She stretched up slightly onto her toes, wrapping her arms around Gray's neck. Happily, he took the hint, and their lips met in perfect accord.

"I'm jus' tryin't'get w'rrm," Lucy told him, pressing herself as close as she could wearing two coats, one of them too obviously too big.

Gray responded by deepening the kiss and wrapping one arm tightly around Lucy so that she didn't lose her balance. They stood like that for quite some time, lips parted but mouths locked together, tongues exploring, arms twined around each other. Lucy felt surprisingly overheated despite the cold.

"Wow." Gray blinked down at Lucy. "You're really amazing."

"I thought you already knew that," she retorted.

"Well, now I know it more. Let's try necking in the ice castle."

Lucy blushed slightly but went willingly. Thanks to Gray's magic, they had no trouble reaching the small room at the top of the highest tower. It wasn't especially high, of course, but it was a little more private. Lucy peered down at the playground, which was starting to attract attention. In a stern voice, Gray told Lucy that she should be admiring his handiwork, not staring out the window at random peasants.

"The random peasants are getting closer, my lord," she replied deferentially.

"Well in that case, I suppose I'd best kiss the princess while I can."

Rather unexpectedly, Gray deftly tugged the scarf away from Lucy's neck and started pressing decidedly warm kisses along the skin between her left ear and shoulder. Lucy shivered from something other than cold when the lowest kiss became more insistent, and Gray's mouth and teeth started to leave a bruise at the point where her neck met her shoulder.

"Ummmmm… if you kiss the princess, won't she turn into a frog or something?" Lucy's voice sounded oddly unfocussed, and she found herself standing very still, as if otherwise she might buckle at the knees.

"I like Frosch," murmured Gray into her ear as he carefully replaced the scarf.

"Mmmm. I could get a Frosch onesie made I suppose…"

"I'd like to see that."

Lucy knew that they were exchanging nonsense, but she hadn't felt this kind of fuzzy, aroused-but-relaxed warmth with Gray before. She decided that she might try another play date in the future, if they ever started to overthink things again. Sometimes, you just had to find a good ice castle to neck in.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this! I do plan to do several more prompts and will likely continue on with this fluffy little story. \\(^u^)/

All reviews, favourites and follows are very much appreciated! This story is also available on tumblr under **impracticaldemon**


	2. Winter

**Graylu Fluff Week 2017**

 **Day 2 Prompt: Winter**

* * *

 **[I] - Too Many People**

* * *

"You guys are doing a lot better now, aren't you?" asked Mirajane rather smugly, the morning after Gray and Lucy's play date at the park.

Gray's cheeks reddened a little, and he ignored Mira in favour of his breakfast, leaving Lucy to grin at Fairy Tail's hostess, bartender and demon-mage.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, Mira, but yes." Lucy composed her face into a suitable bewilderment, while Mirajane rolled her eyes at Lucy's nonsensical—but telling—response.

"So—"

"Mira," said Lucy gravely, "you're my friend and you give great advice, but—"

"Okay, okay! Just let me know if either of you need any more food—or a room…"

"Mira!"

The lovely, white-haired mage sauntered away snickering, and Lucy turned back to Gray a little anxiously. She knew he wasn't really one for big scenes. He surprised her with a crooked smile.

"It's okay, Luce. Thanks for getting Mirajane to lay off a bit, but I don't mind as much as it probably looks. I mean, at least she thinks we're good together, right?"

Lucy released a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. It was comforting to know that Gray was making a sincere effort to cope with the extra attention—and that he could even see an upside to it.

"Yeah. I shouldn't get so worried, I guess."

Gray's dark eyes met hers and he reached across the table to take her hand.

"I wish you wouldn't get so worried about how I'm going to react. I'm not going to suddenly change my mind about us you know—definitely not for a bit of embarrassment here or there."

"Right. Right, of course." Lucy didn't feel up to explaining that old reflexes—in this case from a long-past relationship—tended to die hard.

Just then, Erza came in with Natsu, who appeared to be trying to explain something to her.

"But I've been training super hard, I swear! I can help!"

"It's an S-class mission and you're not qualified." Erza's voice had the edge of somebody who had been saying the same thing for the past ten or fifteen minutes.

"I'll bet I am! It's not my fault that—"

Erza spun around suddenly and straight-armed Natsu in the chest. He staggered, but didn't go flying as he might have once.

"Okay, Natsu—"

"I can come!" Ever optimistic, Natsu rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"No. But you can meet me outside in an hour, and if you can beat me then you can come."

"Yusssss!" Natsu had absolutely no fault to find with this, and seemed fully prepared to start something right away.

"I want my breakfast," said Erza firmly.

"Right, right. So I'll see you after break—"

"In an hour. Outisde. Behind the guildhall."

Giving up, Natsu looked around, saw his friends, and sat down with them.

"You should see this quest! I mean, we can totally do it—just a volcano that's acting up, and some kind of weird cult and a city in danger. We've handled that kind of thing tons of times."

"Once," commented Gray laconically. He had unobtrusively given Lucy's hand a last squeeze before letting go of it. Lucy had a feeling that he was actually least comfortable behaving as a couple around their own teammate. "And Erza had to save our butts."

"Okay, yeah, but that was _ages_ ago!"

"Why not just pick a different quest?"

"All I have to do is beat Erza in an hour."

"Okay. Lucy and I will just look at the _regular_ job board—you know the _not-S-class-job-board_ —while you're getting ready for Erza to trash you again."

Natsu scowled.

"Look, Ice Princess—"

"Yeah, Charcoal Brain? You want to tell me how your one-hundred-and-seventeenth time is going to be different from all the others?"

"Well, it will!"

Gray opened his mouth for the obvious rejoinder, saw Lucy's look of chagrin, snapped his teeth shut and drained his coffee. She knew that they'd play the "yes it will—no it won't" game for a couple of minutes and then brawl. But he was supposed to be having breakfast with her, not fighting with Natsu.

"Would you like anything more, Luce?" He did his best to ask casually, as if he wasn't breaking years of Natsu-pummeling tradition.

"No, I'm good. But _thanks_ , Gray." Her smile was like gold, he thought. To hell with fighting Natsu, maybe it was time to grow up.

"Natsu?"

The pink-haired mage looked surprised. "You offering to get me something?"

"Yep. Once-in-a-lifetime offer."

"Oh…. Well, if that's the case…"

Looking at Gray as if he'd suddenly turned into a frog or something, Natsu asked for food—of course—and Gray went to the bar to order. He wondered just how much his life was going to turn upside-down for Lucy. He watched Natsu and Lucy chat while he waited for the food. They were comfortable together, he thought. Would he ever be able to see them laughing and talking like that without getting that painful, internal dialogue about how he wasn't optimistic enough, cheerful enough, _exciting_ enough? With a shake of his head, he carried the food back to the table, making a point of sitting next to Lucy, instead of across from her with Natsu.

"So you're planning to do some writing today?" he asked Lucy.

Natsu gave him another strange look and dove into his food.

"Yeah, I'm really hoping to get somewhere with it. The weather's kind of nasty, and we hadn't planned on going on a job—had we?"

"Only if we go without Erza, it looks like. Which is fine by me—might be good for us to stretch ourselves a bit, you know? Especially if"—he caught himself in time, and mentally subtracted "flame-brain" from the sentence—"Natsu figures we can do it."

The Fire Slayer was now staring at him open-mouthed, and Gray had to resist a strong desire to use his fist to make Natsu's jaws close. He was just trying to be mature. He felt his flush deepen as Lucy put a hand over her mouth as though to repress—or conceal—a laugh.

Natsu swallowed whatever he'd been chewing rather convulsively: "Uh, ice—uh, Gray—you feeling okay? 'Cause I can't remember the last time you called me Natsu and that's twice in ten minutes now."

"Do you _prefer_ "flame-brain"? I don't mind using it, as long as we don't fight over it."

"What? No! I mean, no, of course I wouldn't prefer it! Geez Gray, what has gotten into you?" Natsu's face suddenly lightened and he set down his fork and sniffed the air. "Hey, wait a minute, are you two going out now or something?"

Lucy uttered a muffled cry of exasperation, and that helped Gray not to lunge at Natsu.

"Of course we are, you dork. We've been going out together for almost three weeks!"

"Huh, I hadn't noticed before."

 _Great. Just what I needed to hear._ Gray tried to look around surreptitiously, but he shouldn't have bothered being careful. Everyone who was actually in the hall at this time of the morning—about half the guild, it seemed—was either staring openly or snickering quietly.

"Enjoy the food, I'm going to walk Lucy back to her place and then I'll be back to watch how badly Erza hurts you this time."

Natsu's mouth was full, but he rolled his eyes expressively. Gray helped Lucy up—not that she needed it, but since everyone was _so interested_ he might as well get to hold her hand for a moment. On a more conciliatory note, he told Natsu:

"On the off-chance you win, I'll be standing by to go with you, how's that?"

"Okay. You'll come too, Lucy?"

Lucy nodded, still repressing a strong desire to giggle at Gray's attempts to deal with Natsu otherwise than with his fists and magic. It was honestly very sweet him; the truth was that her giggles were at least partly on account of nerves, because Natsu's comments together with Gray's behaviour had thrown her a bit. After spending so long thinking about going out together, had it really taken them almost three weeks to start to gel as a couple? And what exactly was it that Natsu had noticed? On second thought, she didn't want to think about that.

Gray and Lucy made their way out of the hall without looking at each other, but once they were outside in the crisp February air their joint sighs of relief caused them to exchange rather rueful smiles. Gray ran a hand through his hair in typical fashion for him when he was thinking or embarrassed, making half of it stand up on end.

"Er… I'm not quite sure what to say…"

"Oh well," Lucy said practically, rubbing gloved hands together, "nothing we can do about it now, right?"

"Yeah. So, you good with me coming back to see Natsu get smacked down again?"

"Yes, of course. I don't think everything has to change between us and our friends, you know."

"I know, it's just that I feel like you ought to have more of my attention than that pink-haired dork."

They started walking toward Lucy's place, and Lucy had to admit that it was nice to have somebody to walk with who was special in a different way than a friend. If nothing else, Gray made a point of blocking the wind, and steered her away from the canal and the worst patches of ice. They trudged up the stairs to Lucy's apartment, and Lucy let herself in.

Gray ran his hand through his hair again. Yesterday evening had been different—the afternoon out had felt special, and the sunset had been beautiful… Now it was just a grey late winter morning, with a few tiny snowflakes falling and a rather chilling wind—chilling for Lucy, anyway. Lucy looked up at him, hesitated, and then pulled him inside, so that the door latched behind him. It was a tremendous relief when she reached her arms up around his neck and kissed him, so that he could stop worrying about what to do. He had no hesitation at all in kissing her back; it was just knowing where to start that he still found tricky.

Surprisingly, to Gray at least, they had no difficulty in rekindling the feeling of the evening before; their "play-date" had led to some very serious making out on Lucy's couch after dinner. Just thinking about it now, with his fingers in her hair, was making his body heat up … a lot. He finally caught his breath, trying to remember that he had to leave. Maybe it was just as well that the wind outside was so cold.

Instead of leaving, though, he heard himself voicing some of the thoughts he'd had the night before when he was walking home from Lucy's.

"I was wondering if you'd be willing to go on a vacation with me—out of town, I mean. It's totally okay if you're not comfortable with the idea or too busy here, or think we should get a couple of jobs done or whatever, but I wanted to ask."

Lucy was silent for a moment, still recovering from the last nerve-tingling kiss, which she could have sworn she'd felt right down to her toes and in all the important places in between. Then she registered surprise.

"You mean—just the two of us?" Her deep brown eyes, which always showed everything she felt—laughter, anger, sadness, joy—reflected how taken aback she was by the suggestion. A vacation alone together, overnight or over a few nights, implied certain possibilities.

Gray knew that his cheeks were red, but he bit back the words of apology that had formed on his tongue the moment Lucy had hesitated. He didn't want to pressure her—at all—but he did want her to know what he wanted, which was mostly a chance to get away from the guild, from their teammates, from everyone who knew them and wanted to poke their noses into stuff that should be just between Lucy and him. He thought he'd better make that clear though.

"Yeah, just the two of us. We don't have to share a room, if you don't want to. We can take things totally slowly, that's not a problem. It's mostly to have some time to ourselves. Honestly, I can afford it right now, and I think you're caught up on your rent for once"—he smirked slightly at Lucy, trying to break the tension a little—"so you don't absolutely need a job in the next week or so, right?"

"That's true," Lucy agreed, her eyes now fixed on his face. He could hear a trace of doubt in her voice, but also interest. To his great relief, she didn't seem to be angry or think that he was being a complete jerk.

"I mean, I love being outside, I love the winter—and it's a lot shorter here than where I'm from—but I also think I could be happy just hanging out inside with you, too. It's dumb, but I like working on stuff while you write. It's comfortable. I know we just started going out, practically, but we've known each other for over two years now, right? I think—I hope you know—you can trust me."

He could see that Lucy was beginning to look more and more sold on the idea. He wasn't sure what had tipped the scales; she'd probably just needed to think about it a bit.

"So where would we go?" Lucy asked. She was still wearing her coat, but she'd unbuttoned it and taken off her gloves, and Gray was getting distracted again by her curves.

"There's a place about four or five hours northwest. We'd be able to take a carriage west along the main road to Crocus for most of it, and then it's just a short distance into the central mountains." Gray looked down. "Maybe it's a dumb idea. It's just a small town in a deep valley in the foothills but it's pretty. It's safer than the wild area north of Mount Hakobe and less expensive than the resorts closer to the rail line."

"And fewer people?" suggested Lucy with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Yeah…" admitted Gray. "Plus it backs right up against the mountains. But thinking about it—I don't know if you'd like it." Then he shrugged. "They've got a couple of nice chalets though, and I think the rooms are pretty cosy. Fireplaces, reading nooks, that kind of thing."

"You _think_?"

"Well, I only saw those places in passing. I was staying a little farther into the hills, not in town. Look—I've got to get going. Will you think about it?"

Lucy took a deep breath, and then smiled.

"I'll go. I think you're right about getting away for a while. As long as we stay in town in a decent place and not in some guy-shack in the woods."

"You will? I mean, that's great! And no problem—I swear, no guy-shacks. Is that even a word?"

"Well it should be if it isn't."

"So tomorrow? The day after?"

"Whenever you want," said Lucy recklessly. She usually liked to be organized about things, but she'd had to become a lot more adaptable when she'd joined Team Natsu. "Heck, we've gone on longer trips for jobs with almost no time to pack at all."

"So, you're going to come with me on vacation, just the two of us, to a place where it's colder and there's probably more than just a dusting of snow?"

"Yep. You obviously miss having a real winter, even if you can sort of make your own. Besides, this way you'll _really_ owe me, right?"

Gray lifted her off her feet and grinned up at her. "You are the _best_."

"Thanks, but you're going to be late to see Natsu fight Erza."

"Fuck Natsu."

Lucy arched an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Gray crushed her in a tight hug and then set her down. "You know what I mean. Fine. I'll go pick up the pieces of Natsu's sorry carcase— _again_ —and then I'll find out about a carriage, and then I'll be back. Don't change your mind."

"I won't. Promise." Lucy made a shooing gesture.

"Trust me?"

Their eyes met and Gray found himself holding his breath. Then Lucy nodded firmly:

"Yeah."

* * *

 **[II] - Keep Me Warm**

* * *

They were in the small town of Wisteria Hills by mid-afternoon the next day. The trip had been uneventful, if a little rough, but there was something to be said for not travelling with a motion-sick Natsu and a hyper-active Exceed. As Gray had predicted, it was a little colder and a lot snowier, but it was definitely pretty.

The chalet had offered them a choice of rooms on the second floor, and the owner had taken them around himself so that they could decide what they wanted. Gray was more than a little tense, since Lucy hadn't given him an answer on the question of one room or two, and she'd been pretty quiet on the second half of the trip down. Not unhappy, exactly, but thoughtful and less talkative than usual.

The second of the three rooms available was perfect. It had a big desk at a bow window for Lucy, a cosy bedroom area with a large four-poster bed, and a couch and two squashy chairs around a small but serviceable fireplace with split logs ready and waiting to be kindled. Lucy and Gray's eyes met behind the owner's back as he extolled the advantages of the room—really a suite, he pointed out, if you considered the extra space for the sitting area around the fireplace. Gray shrugged at Lucy: it was her call; he'd made that clear from the start.

Lucy leaned forward and tapped the owner politely on the shoulder. He turned immediately.

"Yes ma'am? Do you have any questions?"

"No. It's just what we're looking for, we'll take it."

Gray felt his heart thud against his ribs, and for close to a minute he could only hear the rushing of blood in his ears. He managed to catch the tail-end of Lucy's brief conversation with the owner:

"…well, we're not sure, but at least three days. Is there any problem?"

"None at all. Let's get your bags up here, shall we?" The hotelier had seen quite a lot after thirty years in the business, and a swift glance suggested to him that the young couple wouldn't mind a moment or two alone. "I'll go down and organize your keys and so on. I'll see you at the front desk, sir or ma'am, to arrange for the deposit?"

"Yes, I'll be right down," Gray replied, his eyes not leaving Lucy.

As soon as the door closed behind the man, Gray pulled Lucy close. "Thanks for giving me a chance," he said quietly into her ear. "I promise, you can trust me. But I'm really happy I can stay with you."

"Just make sure you keep me warm, Ice Prince."

"Not a problem, Lucy. You'll see."

* * *

[END]

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! If you have a moment, please leave a review or comment.**


	3. Warm and Fuzzy

**Author's Note:**

This is **Chapter 3** of the story that I wrote for **Graylu Fluff Week 2017 (February)**. I was unable to complete the story then thanks to real life (TM) and the need to prioritize my various ongoing writing projects in consequence later in the year.

Thank you to everyone who is willing to pick this up again and read the next chapter, which is actually being written during **Graylu Week 2017 (September)**. Thank you also to those who are simply willing to pick this up now and read the story as a whole. While I am either a multi-shipper or somebody who just enjoys writing for any ship I find interesting, Graylu has a special place in my heart because **Graylu Week 2016** was the first Fairy Tail ship week for which I ever wrote. Also, I am a fan of both Gray and Lucy.

This chapter follows directly from where the story left off, so you may want to read or skim the first two chapters - or not! Hopefully you will enjoy my characterization of Gray and Lucy either way. :)

I must send special thanks to **Aviend** and **Zeiyuu** for reminding me that there are readers ready and willing to read my Graylu stories!

~ _Impracticaldemon_

* * *

 **Graylu Week 2017  
** Prompt: Warm and Fuzzy [from Graylu Fluff Week 2017]

* * *

The snow had been drifting down for about an hour, but the dancing flakes were slowly becoming heavier and faster, like weekend revellers transforming back into serious, weekday commuters. As dusk closed in, the wind picked up as well, and the temperature began to fall. It would be a cold night.

Gray and Lucy stood in the window embrasure watching the last of the light fade vanish from the sky. Gray had one arm wrapped tightly around Lucy, so that she was standing with her back pressed to his chest; he was feeling more relaxed and just… content… than he had in a long time. Lucy, looking adorable (in Gray's opinion) in soft, pink flannel pajamas covered with white bunnies, seemed happy as well. They both held mugs of steaming hot chocolate topped with tiny dollops of whipped cream—although the cream was quickly dissolving. Gray hadn't realized that he liked hot chocolate, but Lucy had assured him that it didn't have to be sickly sweet, and she'd been right.

Suddenly, Lucy shivered and her shoulders stiffened.

"Lucy? Luce—what's wrong?"

She shook her head, as if to clear it. "Sorry… I don't know what came over me. It felt as though all that snow was, I don't know, about to come piling in on me. Weird, right?" She laughed, but Gray thought it sounded forced.

He hesitated, unsure what to do. On the one hand, he'd heard that some people found the deep snows and encircling mountains made them uneasy. On the other hand, Lucy was a highly trained and perceptive mage. They'd both learned not to take odd situations at face value. _Unlike FlameBrain. He takes_ everything _at face value and deals with the consequences later._ But as much as Gray loved to poke fun at Natsu, he knew that his best friend and arch rival had an unmatched ability for being happy and cheering up those around him. He envied Natsu in that way.

"Gray?"

Gray shook his head, unsure how he'd gotten distracted by _Natsu_ of all things. "Yeah, sorry… Anyway, it's probably nothing, but in case you're getting bad vibes for a reason, let's finish our drinks in front of the fire instead of in front of the window." He made a point of sipping at his hot chocolate and realized that it had cooled far more quickly than he'd expected. That was okay, though. He glanced at the fire to make sure that it was still burning—it had given him trouble earlier and reminded him that he was getting too used to having people around to use magic for stuff.

"Is it okay if I read for a bit?" Lucy sounded tentative. Gray wished that they were past all this tip-toeing around each other, but he knew that it was just part of the shift in their relationship.

"Yeah, sure. I think I'll do the same." He rolled his eyes at Lucy's expression. "Oh come _on_ , Lucy! Don't give me that 'wow you can _read?_ ' look!"

"I didn't!" But Lucy was grinning rather sheepishly. "I just figured that you were more into other things."

"Would it make you happier to know that I also have a brand new, hand-held game lacrima with me?" Gray reluctantly let go of Lucy so that she could get her book, and fished the third gen Crystal System out of a padded inner pocket of his leather jacket.

"No way! You have a 3CS?" Lucy was standing beside him, her book in one hand. "Two screens, bigger memory, _and_ you can text other 3CS systems within range? Um." Lucy saw the look on Gray's face and stopped, blushing.

"Yep. Does it fit my image better than the reading?" Gray was just teasing, but Lucy looked embarrassed, so he kissed her—just to reassure her everything was fine. "Sounds like you're more of a geek than you let on," he murmured against her lips.

He always seemed to forget how great it was… She was warm, and soft, and had amazing curves. After a couple of minutes of being reassuring, Gray added: "Or if you really want to know how stereotypical I can be, we can put these… things… down…" He took the book out of Lucy's hand and used a wisp of ice magic to set it carefully with his game system on the nearest handy surface. With two hands free now, he could do a better job of kissing his girlfriend.

Lucy finally drew back slightly, laughing and flushed. "Your fire is going to waste," she told him impishly.

Gray blinked at her and then smirked, his dark eyes gleaming wickedly. "My fire is doing just fine, thanks. But if you insist"—he picked Lucy up and carried her over to the couch—"then we can get closer to this old thing"—he gestured to the flames dancing along the logs in the fireplace. Without giving himself a chance to second-guess, he trapped Lucy under him and went back to kissing her.

"I see you got your shirt off," the blonde muttered a few, very pleasant minutes later. Her eyes were half closed and her hands were running along Gray's arms and shoulders.

"… Doesn't sound like you're objecting…" Gray was in the process of adding a hickey to one of Lucy's creamy shoulders. He had to concentrate in order to prevent himself from pulling the fuzzy pink pajama top right off Lucy altogether.

"I'm not, I'm admiring."

Time passed, more snow fell, and the fire—the one in the grate—started to burn low from lack of tending. On the couch, Gray dragged himself upright and pulled Lucy into his lap. They were both disheveled and panting heavily.

"So…" Gray said, still running his hands appreciatively along Lucy's soft flannels, which were partially unbuttoned down the front. Neither of them knew exactly how, but the ice mage was down to his navy boxers. "How about we order some food, and fresh hot cocoa, and get our books out?" He gave Lucy a comic-book-villain leer and added: "If you're _very_ good, you can even try out my 'game system'."

Lucy laughed despite herself—more specifically, despite her hormones, which were suggesting something else entirely. There was no secret about what Gray wanted, but he showed no signs of impatience and seemed honestly happier than Lucy had seen him in quite a while.

In a way, it was part of the thrill to know that she was one of the few to get to see the cheerful Gray, instead of the slightly negative, emo guy he'd become over the past several months. When they'd first met, he'd been the one she joked with and commiserated with when they were out on team missions—often over dumb things like how bizarre their enemies were (not to mention their teammates), or how joining a dark guild seemed to promote horrible fashion sense. She'd just started to really miss that side of him when she'd realized that part of his problem was that he'd fallen for her and wasn't sure how to behave. Of course, it was dangerous to mix your job, your friendships, and romance.

"Well too bad!" she said out loud, startling Gray. He recovered fast though.

"You _don't_ want to try out my game system?" he asked slyly.

"I think it might be fun, actually," Lucy responded, batting her eyelashes at him and tracing a finger-tip along his chest. Her deliberately over-the-top manner made him grin, although her touch made his cheeks flush. "Although I suppose you have stuff like 'SuperSmashMage' and 'MakaroKart'," Lucy went on.

"True," he conceded, bending his head to nibble on her ear. "But I also have the most recent 'Legend of Zervis', and I hear that girls think the hero's cute."

"He _is_ rather darkly attractive," Lucy conceded. "But _I_ want to try 'Flame Emblem'—the stories look pretty good."

"Stories, huh? Let's face it, the game's gone from a great tactical simulator and RPG to a, a _romance_ game!"

"Has not!" Lucy batted ineffectively at Gray—it was awkward to hit the person on whom you were sitting. "That is _such_ a dumb complaint. Besides, guys are just as goofy about the pairings as girls are."

"Nope," Gray said firmly, wrinkling his nose and trying not to laugh (or put his hand inside Lucy's top, which was the most attractive option). "We just can't avoid the fact that good 'relationships' provide key attack and defense bonuses."

"And you don't play the Catch-a-Critter game because of the cute Critters, right?"

"Right."

"Aha! You do play it then!"

"... Possibly. But only so that I can have a better fighting team than Natsu."

" _And_ the Critters are cute."

"No."

"Show me who you've got and I'll find the one you've kept just because it's cute."

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

Lucy snatched up one of the cushions that had fallen onto the floor earlier and whacked Gray over the head. "Ugh!"

"Sorry, sorry, that was really lame!" Gray threw up his hands to protect his face, and Lucy took advantage of being able to move to shift so that she was sitting across his lap.

Her intention had been to get a better angle of attack, but the result was that Gray's face ended up in her cleavage. She both heard and felt him react to the distinctly provocative situation, and felt herself blush. Not that this was much different from the way they'd been messing around before.

"I'll just go stand out in the snow for a while," Gray muttered against her skin. "Maybe that will help."

"Do you want to build a snowman?" Lucy quipped softly, knowing that Gray had gotten really, really sick of that line lately. Personally, she'd found the movie a lot of fun and rather moving, but Gray had started to react violently when people told him to 'let it go' any time he got irritated. Even Erza hadn't been able to stop the fight that had erupted when Natsu had asked if 'Elsa' was ready to head out on a quest. The unfortunate thing was that Natsu hadn't really been responsible—Gajeel had set him up.

Gray breathed out and hugged Lucy close, arms wrapping tightly around her waist and shoulders. Then he laughed, and Lucy smiled. Slowly but surely they were figuring each other out. The shared humour was still there.

"No, no I don't," he said, answering her question with mock seriousness. "What I _want_ … is something else."

"You know, I thought that snuggling on a couch in my pajamas in front of a fire would just be kind of warm and fuzzy," Lucy told him, sitting back a little so that she could see Gray's face.

"It is," Gray replied immediately. "I'm warm and you're fuzzy." He ran his hands down the back of her soft, pink, bunny-covered top. "Why don't you go get your book and my CS? I figure one of two things will happen eventually: either we'll be attacked by malignant cold spirits—I think there's actually some out there—or I'll beg you to let me take you to bed."

Lucy shivered slightly. Gray could be all too good at putting distance between himself and others. But right now she had the feeling that he was being completely honest. Pink-cheeked, she hopped up and fetched the book and the small gaming lacrima. As she settled in against Gray to read—or try to read—a large snowflake with a little heart in the center fluttered down onto her page.

"You can always, _always_ say no. Remember that, okay?"

"I will," Lucy answered. "But it's hard to turn down a chance to fight malignant cold spirits, you know?"

* * *

 **[END]**

* * *

 **A/Note:** Thank you for reading and for any reviews or comments, likes or reblogs, kudos etc. depending on your PoP (Platform of Preference).  
I do plan to write a little more for Graylu Week 2017 (September), so hopefully the stars will align - I'm looking at *you* Lucy!


	4. Too Cold to Hold, Part I

**Author's Note:** With apologies for the delay and hoping that you'll enjoy chapter 4 of this combined Graylu Fluff Week and Graylu Week story! (And hoping that I'm healthier over the next little while... grrr...)

With particular thanks to **nonochu** from **tumblr** for all of her support and gentle nudges. Thank you also to those who have commented, reblogged, bookmarked and just generally sent encouragement my way on FFnet, AO3 and tumblr. I'm grateful to all of my readers.

~ _Impracticaldemon_

* * *

 **Chapter 4** — **Too Cold to Hold, Part I  
Prompt: Fragrance (for Graylu Day)**

* * *

Gray had eventually put on pajama bottoms and a fitted t-shirt that was either midnight blue or black (whichever it was, Lucy had approved). Not that he had wanted to "get dressed," as he'd put it, but even he had felt that boxer shorts and nothing else probably wasn't appropriate attire in which to fetch their dinner. His girlfriend had forborne to comment that his loungewear might not be exactly what the kitchen staff had in mind either.

He returned with several dishes, ranging from steaming soup to dome-covered entrées to some kind of towering cake and cream and fruit concoction that was clearly a special dessert. The warm part of the meal was carefully balanced on two large trays, but the dessert—in all of its frothy, bedizened glory—was being held aloft by ice.

"They were pretty impressed with my carrying capacity," he commented, as Lucy took one of the trays so that he could negotiate the doorway. "Plus the way I could keep the dessert chilled."

"No kidding." Lucy was laying out their dinner on the low coffee table with rapid efficiency. She nodded approvingly at the dessert, which Gray left sitting on a table of ice in the window embrasure.

"Yeah, they offered me a job waitering, if wizarding didn't work out." His mouth quirked into a smile. "Don't worry, I told them that my _carrying_ skills were okay, but that my patience for obnoxious customers wasn't the best."

Lucy pointed him to one cushion and took the other, folding her legs under her and sniffing appreciatively at the soup. " _Itadakimasu_ ," she murmured politely, word and action somehow coming naturally in this lovely room, with a fine meal in front of her. **(1)**

Gray looked surprised—the guildhall wasn't exactly famous for good manners with food, and he had fallen out of the habit a long time ago. And yet… dim memories of childhood—first with his parents and then Ur—resurfaced with surprising clarity, and he automatically copied Lucy. It was strange: in almost any other setting, or with any other person, he might have resented the formality—or at least the memories evoked—but here and with Lucy it was just right. His mind skittered over the thought that this is how one might behave in one's own home with one's own family.

"This is really good!" Lucy smiled at Gray with unfeigned pleasure. "Oh, and I was about to say—I'm quite sure that your waitering skills would be just fine if you weren't forced to wear a dress." Her smile turned a little roguish, as other scenes evidently replaced the dress episode in her mind's eye. "In fact, I'll bet you'd be quite an attraction in a butler's outfit—or maybe just the pants and a bow-tie?"

"Uh-huh." Gray reddened and suddenly felt a need to concentrate on his soup. When he looked up again, he saw Lucy looking at him quizzically, her own cheeks a little pink. "It's just kind of weird," he told her, "hearing that from you instead of, you know, Mira or Cana. Or Erza, when she's gotten _way_ too into one of our jobs."

Lucy nodded. "I know what you mean. But for what it's worth, I have _thought_ it before. And with Mira and Cana, it's mostly impersonal. Or at least it applies to everyone—guys, girls, whoever they need to dress up at any given moment. Or just for fun." She paused, and then added darkly: " _Their_ fun, I mean."

Gray switched to his main course, smiling when Lucy glared momentarily into space. She was obviously contemplating past injuries. To be fair, Fairy Tail's loveliest and most notorious hostesses did seem to derive a bit too much pleasure out of interfering with the lives of others. Mind you, he wasn't going to complain about having seen Lucy in a variety of bikinis, bunny suits, and gowns—but he wasn't going to comment on it either. At least, not right this minute.

Loke probably would though… He quickly tried to get his mind off that train of thought. No sense in being jealous of Lucy's bond with the guy who just happened to be the leader of the celestial spirits of the Zodiac. Well—no point in dwelling on it, anyway. He and Loke would just have to reach an understanding about grabby hands _not being okay_. No problem.

"Gray?"

"…Sorry Lucy!" Gray was startled to realize that there was frost crystallizing in the air above his hands. "Um…" He glanced down, relieved to see that he was still dressed. That meant he'd only been out of it for a couple of moments.

"I guess you've had to deal with the dynamic duo for even longer than I have—is that it?" Lucy's tone was completely sympathetic. She knew that Gray wasn't the best with being pushed into things, although he tended to be a team player.

Gray wavered between an easy lie and a complicated truth. "Kind of?"

Sympathy faded to concern. Lucy set down her chopsticks. She used chopsticks or metal cutlery with equal facility, and her familiarity with all sorts of food and customs periodically reminded her team-mates that her upbringing had been that of a pampered—if lonely—little girl. Gray recognized that his mind was going off on a tangent again.

"Okay, you'll have to explain 'kind of'," Lucy said firmly.

"I wasn't actually thinking about Cana and Mira just then, but it's true that I have had to deal with them for a long time. I mean… they're not much older than I am, so I've known them since we were all kids. Hard to believe now, right?"

Lucy regarded him thoughtfully. "Is this one of those 'better not to go there just now' moments? Or one those 'better get it over with' moments?"

Gray scrubbed at the back of his head as a substitute for stripping off his t-shirt. Although maybe Lucy wouldn't mind. He forced himself to talk. "You're very attractive, in a lot of ways, to a lot of people. It's one reason it took so long to tell you how I felt—feel."

"Okay…" Lucy frowned slightly at him. "So it's one of those 'figure out what I'm thinking because I'm too embarrassed to tell you' moments." She took a mouthful of food and chewed thoughtfully.

"Yeah, you're right. Pretty lame." Gray finished the rest of his entrée, barely managing to stay on the right side—that is, the polite side—of Natsu-speed.

"You always seemed much too indifferent—or too cool—to be really jealous of anyone," Lucy mused. "Except that I understand about Natsu."

Gray threw up his hands in surrender. "Fine, I was just thinking that I might want to have a chat with my buddy Loke." He shrugged. "And I have definitely had my moments of jealousy."

Lucy's face was unusually hard to read. Then she gave him an apologetic half-smile. "I guess there are just still… things… to talk about, right? Or to sort out, or something. I figured—the two of you have always been friends, you know?"

"I know. And _being_ friends means that I know how he thinks."

"Yeah, I think most us of know that," said Lucy, a little dryly. "He's probably just as interested in you as he is in me. Not that I really know—I try not to, um, pry too much. I mean, he was seeing Aries—or so I thought—but…"

"Yeah, exactly. _But_ …" Gray shook his head. "Honestly, it was just a stray thought. Loke's just a little too 'hands-on' for my taste."

"Or maybe it's the way he periodically makes passes at me?" Lucy inquired, appearing to relax now that she knew what was wrong. Her eyes were bright and cheerful again.

"Right, it could be that." Impulsively, Gray took Lucy's hand across the corner of the table. "And it's been such a pain, since I've been trying _not_ to make passes at you."

"Oh? Didn't you mention something earlier about, um"—Lucy turned a little pink again, but persevered—"wanting to take me to bed? Are you saying that _wasn't_ —"

"It was the hot chocolate talking."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Talk about _lame_."

"Fine, pour me another glass of wine." The proprietor had insisted on tucking a bottle of red under Gray's arm to share with 'his lovely lady' over dinner.

"I don't think you like it much," the 'lovely lady' murmured, filling his empty glass as requested. He'd gulped the first glass rather quickly.

"I prefer beer to wine, but this isn't bad." Gray took a careful sip. "Besides, I figure we can each stand to broaden our horizons."

"Okay, but what idiot makes his non-beer-drinking friend try something called 'Hobgoblin'?"

Gray winced, but chuckled. "At least they were out of Guiness. That stuff will peel paint."

"And that's a selling point?"

"Heh, no—unless you're trying to be macho, or happen to like strong, dark beer. Which, just for the record, I do."

Lucy smiled sweetly at him. "You've finished your wine. Again."

"Oh." Two glasses of wine weren't really enough for a buzz, but nerves and repressed lust seemed to duplicate the overall feeling somehow. "So… dessert? If you're done your dinner? Apparently it's a house specialty."

Lucy's smile faded. "Gray…"

"… I don't want to rush anything. When we're joking around, when you're in my arms, anything seems possible. It's easier…"

"But bring a nice dinner and a bottle of wine into the picture and it isn't?" Lucy's hand tensed slightly under his. "Isn't it usually the other way around?"

"Probably. Or maybe that's the problem. I don't—I _don't_ —want to be just some guy." Gray heard the note of uncertainty in his voice and hated it.

"You don't trust me."

"What?"

"You don't trust me to say no. You're worried that I'll do something I'll regret later and that will mess things up."

"That's not it!"

"Really? We've known each other for over two years, and it took most of that time for you—for us—to risk even one date."

Suddenly Gray's attention was wrenched from the argument—or whatever it was—by a sharp, familiar scent. He let go of Lucy's hand and jumped up, eyes scanning the scene beyond the window.

"Gray? I'm sorry—"

"No… I mean, it's not you—there's something trying to get in, can't you smell it?"

Puzzled, but trying to believe that her boyfriend wasn't just trying to avoid a difficult conversation, Lucy walked over to stand beside Gray. She stiffened immediately, and shivered.

"It's _cold_ here! And it smells of—of snow?"

"Yeah. I guess they managed to find—or make—a chink in the glass while we were busy earlier." Gray's fingers found Lucy's and squeezed reassuringly. "You can smell them too? The scent of snow at least? Not everyone can…"

"Sure. I've always been able to smell snow."

"Okay, ever hear of snow spirits?"

"No… not unless you mean Frosty and Sparky."

Gray shook his head. "This isn't Super Makaro and there isn't some villain trying to capture all the nice little snow spirits. Real snow spirits aren't cute and they aren't friendly. They aren't always _un_ friendly, according to what Ur taught me, but they, uh, really dislike ice mages. I've never seen them here before, but maybe I stirred them up when I was here last year—and then they noticed that I'd come back. I'm really sorry about this."

"Well, I told you that I wouldn't say no to fighting malevolent cold spirits," Lucy murmured.

"Yeah, but this is a vacation. Maybe you could just let me deal with them?" Gray was not overly-optimistic about what Lucy would think of this suggestion and he was right.

"Forget it. The couple that fights snow spirits together, stays together."

Her companion grinned a little crookedly. "It doesn't exactly scan well, but I'll take it." He bent down quickly and kissed her lips. It was a distinctly ardent, searching kiss for a guy who should be focussed on evil—or at least angry—supernatural beings.

"Distracted, much?" muttered Lucy.

"Oh yeah." Gray drew a deep breath. "And just so that we're clear: I do want to take you to bed, and take off those adorable pyjamas, and run my hands—and my mouth—over your whole body, and convince you that we're _perfect_ together and the rest of the world can go to hell."

He could sense Lucy react to his words, could swear that he felt her temperature rise. Why was it easier to say such things at moments like this? Probably because he didn't have to face her and the danger made his words seems less real. Without even having to think about it, he used ice to create a seal on the window. Not the most effective against elemental cold beings, but as long as he got outside quickly at least he could avoid a battle—and damage—in here.

"I hate your timing, Gray. _Just so that we're clear_ —you aren't fooling anyone." Moving with calm efficiency, Lucy picked up a leather case from a bedside table and pulled out a golden key. "Aries, I need your help." Her summoning rituals had gotten less formal over time…

There was a bright light, and then a sweet, curly-haired girl with small ram's horns appeared and bowed diffidently.

" _Sumimasen_ ," she murmured as usual; the celestial spirit connected to the Zodiac sign of the ram tended to apologize for anything and everything, or even nothing. She ducked her head and smiled shyly at Gray. She seemed to like him, for some reason—or at least he didn't alarm her as much as most.

"Aries do you notice—" Lucy suddenly looked intently at her celestial friend. "Is that _snow_ in your fur?"

"Yes? It's very cold her. I smell elemental spirits—the freezing ones."

"Well, that saves explanations," Lucy muttered.

"See y' outside, Luce!" Gray had stepped back when Aries appeared, but now he stripped off his shirt—possibly accidentally—and hurried out of the room.

"Moron, why couldn't he just wait?" Lucy sighed. She'd given up a long time ago trying to hold any of her team-mates back from a confrontation.

"I believe that Gray-san wants to get the snow spirits away from the window so that it doesn't shatter and ruin your dessert. It's very pretty." Aries hesitated, and then added, "Are you going to get married?"

"What?! No! I mean—not right this moment! We've just started going out… Why are you asking, anyway?"

" _Sumimasen_! We're all curious and they—they made me promise to ask since you called me—I'm sorry!"

Lucy squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. At least they cared about her, right?

"Okay, sure. Anyway, do you think you could magic up some fluffy insulation for this window?"

"Oh yes, easily!"

Moments later, the big window was wreathed in fluffy pink clouds of… something. Whatever it was, the area near the window suddenly got much warmer and the scent of snow on a cold night vanished.

"Thank you!" Lucy called over her shoulder as she shoved her feet into boots and dragged her coat on over her pyjamas. She waved to Aries as she ran out the door to go looking for Gray. Hopefully she wouldn't get lost in the swirling snow.

* * *

 **[END of PART I]**

 **(1)** This is a normal good manners before a meal in Japan. The word is often accompanied by placing the palms together briefly as in prayer. The idiomatic meaning is "thank you for the meal". In more formal situations one might also bow slightly.

* * *

 **A/Note:** Sorry for having to break this up! Chapter 5—Too Cold to Hold, Part II, will hopefully be out tomorrow evening! I'm just not very good at writing things as *short* as I intend them to be... Your comments, reviews, follows and faves are all much appreciated. :)


	5. Too Cold to Hold, Part II

**Author's Note:** Another story in which each chapter has more parts than expected. Welcome to Part II of "Too Cold to Hold", which is now going to be Part II of III. Part III is already partly written, however.

 _~Impracticaldemon_

* * *

 **Chapter 5—Too Cold to Hold, Part II  
Prompt: Fragrance** (still for Graylu Day)

* * *

Lucy went out the closest door, teeth automatically clenching as the cold hit her like a solid force. She started walking around the big chalet, staying close to the wall for protection from the wind and snow, and so as not to get lost. She couldn't make out either Gray or his footprints, but that wasn't surprising under the circumstances.

She started calling once she judged that she was under their window. "Gray! Gray!" There was no answer, but the cold was increasing, which Lucy took as a sign that the snow spirits were nearby. She took a few careful steps away from the wall and then a few more, keeping the lit window directly behind her. The light had a slightly pink tinge to it which she assumed was Aries' fluffy seal on the inner window. There was suddenly a bright glitter ahead of her and a burst of magic. She stopped walking and cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Yo, Ice Princess! Get your ballgown-covered ass over here!"

"What the hell—Lucy?! Dammit."

A dark shaped loomed up out of the swirling snow and Gray was suddenly in front of her, looking oddly beleaguered. He was naked to the waist, which wasn't unusual, but his whole body was rimed in frost, turning his blue-black hair to dark-streaked gray. Even as he stepped closer to Lucy, she noticed something she'd never expected to see—he was shivering.

"You look cold," she said, then immediately felt ridiculous. They were standing in the middle of a snowstorm, after all, and he was only half-dressed.

Mind you, it was still better than blurting out her first thought, which was that he looked totally amazing—like some kind of Northern battle god facing off against the hordes of Winter itself. He carried a blood streaked sword in each hand, and it took Lucy a long moment to realize that the blood—Gray's blood—wasn't just contained within the weapons the way it usually was. She'd seen him make such weapons before, and it always made her shudder, since it looked so painful. This time, though, the weapons looked as though they were weeping gory, crimson droplets.

"Gray—what are you doing?!"

His response was a little slow in coming and sounded slightly slurred. "They can only be driven off by blood—at least, that's what I was told—doesn't kill'em but sends'em away. There's a lot of 'em though. Also, they're, um, somehow condensing the blood out of the ice, so I keep having to add more."

"So, basically, you're bleeding continuously. Great."

Lucy heard a faint buzzing noise over the wind, and then it felt as though the temperature dropped several more degrees. She huddled inside her coat, trying to come up with a quick solution. Gray took a deep breath, as if to steady himself, and then set his swords in motion. It was a little bizarre watching a man fight a cloud of snow. With his own blood.

"Did you find out why they're here? And angry?"

"Um, I don't speak snow spirit—do you? Like, I was trying to keep 'em away from the chalet, not enjoy a nice gossip." His sarcasm would have worked better if he hadn't sounded so winded.

"Hmm." Lucy considered her celestial spirits and then took out the gold key for the goat, Capricorn. Loke might be useful against angry snow spirits, but he didn't seem like the right choice right now for several reasons.

"How may I assist you, Lady Lucy," Capricorn asked a moment later. He was standing closer than usual and Lucy felt her neck crick as she struggled to look up at him. Like Aries, he had a light dusting of snow on his clothes and in his hair. She was about to ask why he had appeared almost on top of her, but then realized that he was standing between her and the knot of bitter cold that denoted Gray's assailants. Somehow, he blocked the worst of the chill.

"Oh I see," the tall celestial spirit commented, after studying the situation for a few seconds. "There are an awful lot of them, aren't there?"

"I can't see them," Lucy admitted. She suddenly felt embarrassed about the question she wanted to ask. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. "Capricorn, would it be possible to find out what they're upset over?"

Capricorn did an excellent imitation of a butler being flustered by an unexpected request—which is to say that he remained politely expressionless. "I can certainly make the attempt, at least," he told her.

In fact, the angry knot around Gray began to dissipate, and she saw him stagger slightly. She reached out for him but he shook his head at her. "I'm fine," he insisted. "And I don't want to hurt you by accident." He gave Lucy a tight, pained smile, and flexed his fingers. She suddenly realized—as she should have known—that the swords were fused with Gray's hands.

"Well, you'll look very sexy and heroic as you collapse into the snow," she told him, snapping slightly out of concern.

"Sexy's good…"

Lucy saw Gray's head turn and his stance shifted back to battle-readiness. She winced as fresh blood seeped into his ice weapons.

"I believe I have some understanding of the problem, my lady," Capricorn said at that moment. "If you could just stand still, Mr. Gray…"

"They're about to attack again," Gray told him wearily. "And honestly, I need to get this over with sooner rather than later."

"What have you found out, Capricorn?" Lucy tried to ignore the fact that she could barely feel her fingers.

"I could only get the gist of it, I'm afraid—linguistic and cultural differences being what they are between the celestial and elemental realms—but essentially I think there has been a major misunderstanding."

"Okay, what have we, or they, misunderstood?"

"They were hoping that Mr. Gray would come out to play with them like last time. Also, I believe they were impressed with the blood offering and now consider him a, er, member of the colony. As it were."

"I—wait—what?!" Gray was shaking his head. "I was taught that if you let any kind of gathering of snow spirits too close to your home, first you'd be cold and then you'd be dead."

"Yes, that is what would happen," Capricorn said gently. "You see, like most forces of nature, they don't really understand living beings. They no doubt find ice magic quite—how can I put this?—appealing. So they wanted you to leave the chalet and create more of your delicious cold."

"Delicious cold?" Lucy frowned. "Like food?"

"Not really, but close enough."

"But Lucy sensed danger or evil intent or… or whatever!" protested Gray. "Wanting to play is like, I dunno, a snowball fight or something. Not having a good time watching your new buddy die of hypothermia or bleed out or something!"

Lucy shivered, only partly from the cold. She was beginning to grasp the problem and how everything had gone wrong.

"So the snow spirits, or cold spirits, or whatever they are—they don't actually _hate_ ice mages, they _love_ them... literally to death." She thought for a moment and then added: "That's actually quite consistent with how most stories about the Fair Folk go—lots of tragic endings for people who forget that they just don't think the same way as humans."

Gray was staring stubbornly off into the snow, presumably towards the snow spirits. Lucy pretended not to notice that he had finally given up the weapons and was now trying to stop his cuts from bleeding. His next words dispelled the notion that he hadn't paid attention, however.

"So you're saying that the humans have had it wrong from the beginning. But why does the blood drive them off then?"

"It doesn't; or rather, it doesn't actually kill them. It's just that"—the elegant celestial spirit looked embarrassed—"well, most magical pacts used to be ratified in blood." He forestalled Lucy's next question with a slight sigh, "Including pacts with celestial spirits, of course. We've evolved since. The point is that everyone seems to understand that shedding blood is important. And Mr. Gray's theory that using blood within a magical weapon makes it more effective against spirits and magic and so forth is quite correct. So once a human starts bringing blood into something—well, either they're done playing with you or they're agreeing to something of grave significance. I suppose that somehow context determines whether it's a case of 'get lost or I'll hurt you' as opposed to 'I'm signing my life away.'" He cleared his throat. "I'm just putting a number of different theories together, you understand. Speaking with earth-bound spirits is always… challenging."

Lucy thought for a moment that Capricorn was actually going to sneer—he would have managed it well—but instead he maintained his calm expression and shrugged.

"So how did I somehow make a blood offering?" Gray demanded, coming back to immediate concerns. "I mean, I hear what you're saying in a general way about snow spirits and everything else, but as I mentioned, Lucy sensed malevolence—or just something bad—earlier, and I've never in my life been swarmed like that."

"You have found a way to fuse ice, blood and magic, Gray-san. You're fascinating to them—I think. At this point I really am just guessing. As for the ill-intent felt by Lady Lucy, I suspect that what she really sensed was the danger of you going out to meet such potentially—if accidentally—lethal playmates. She's really extremely talented."

"Don't need you to tell me that," muttered Gray. "So what do we do now? I guess you got them to hold off huh?"

"I told them that you were angry. They are—for lack of a better word—apologetic. Also, they are quite impressed that you have found a suitable wife." Gray stared speechlessly at Capricorn, and Lucy choked. The celestial spirit smiled gently at them. "They are suitably impressed with Lucy-sama's power, since she was able to summon me. They are curious how long it will take for there to be offspring."

"We're not even engaged!" Lucy and Gray spoke in unison, faces now flushed with more than cold.

"Ah. Well, they assume that Mr. Gray became angry because they inadvertently interrupted the, ah, mating ritual."

Lucy turned away with her hands over her face. Gray couldn't tell if she was laughing, crying, or just couldn't take the embarrassment any more.

"And to think I believed this would be a good place to gets away from it all!"

"Shall I tell them that the matter is resolved, Gray-san?" asked Capricorn gently. "Perhaps you could send a small token of friendship."

"Such as what?"

"I understand that your ice sculpture is quite talented."

Without another word, Gray brought his hands together, ignoring the half-healed cuts, and formed a perfect, long-stemmed ice rose. Lucy regarded it suspiciously, but he had apparently opted out of using blood to add colour.

"I see that you left the thorns on," she commented.

"It's how I was taught," Gray muttered, holding out the lovely crystalline flower to Capricorn. "Will you pass this along with my um, best wishes or whatever?"

The celestial spirit nodded. "I believe that this will be the end of the matter, at least for now."

"For now?" Lucy asked suspiciously. Gray's face echoed her question.

"Well… they are hoping to see your, er, offspring in the future." Capricorn's face was perfectly neutral. He bowed politely to Lucy. "As are the rest of us, of course." Without another word, he walked into the thickest patch of swirling snow, held up the ice rose, and then vanished.

The snow seemed to thin within moments, changing from waves of madly careening flakes to a more normal—and distinctly warmer—slow fall. The two humans let the flakes settle on and around them in silence.

"We should go in," Gray said at last. "You need to warm up and I want to help."

Lucy stared at him. "After all of that—not to mention learning that something important that you've known to be true since forever is completely wrong—all you can think about is"—she broke off, suddenly unsure how she wanted to complete that sentence.

"Well, yes," her boyfriend told her, tipping her chin up and stealing a snowy kiss. "You see"—he lifted her into his arms, since she wasn't moving—"you're pretty amazing, and I was just reminded that not only are you sexy and smart, you're a kick-ass mage." He paused halfway to the side-door to crush his mouth against Lucy's, and she found her arms winding themselves around his neck entirely of their own accord, fingers tangling in the back of his damp, snowy hair.

Time passed, and then Gray suddenly raised his head, eyes narrowing. Lucy wanted to protest, but the words died unspoken when she felt the drop in temperature and sensed that they weren't alone. The chill scent of snow under a clear night sky full of brittle, winter stars somehow overrode everything else.

Instead of setting her on her feet so that he could fight, Gray pulled her in closer to his chest. He frowned at the densest swirl of snow.

"Oy! We don't need an audience!"

The cold intensified for a moment and Lucy thought she heard or felt a rustle akin to laughter. Then the cold and the presence—presences?—withdrew, leaving behind a gloriously detailed snow sculpture of Lucy and Gray. It glistened with ice, apparently impervious to the admittedly mild wind.

"Um." Words failed Lucy. The people represented in the sculpture were noticeably short of clothes, their bodies twined together in a passionate kiss. They seemed very… happy.

"Oh gods." Gray squeezed his eyes shut. "I—I don't know what to say."

Suddenly Lucy burst out laughing and Gray looked at her in surprise. After a moment, she'd subsided to giggles. "You have pornographic snow spirits!"

"Hardly!" Gray hugged her, relieved that she wasn't upset and ready to defend his… what had Capricorn called them? His colony. "It's a trifle risqué, I grant you…"

"I think they may be doing more than kissing."

"Well, it's not really clear—and you're staring." Gray narrowly avoided a smack to the top of his head. "Besides, they live beside a, a romantic chalet. Maybe it's just what they're used to in human behaviour. Maybe they're just very open-minded. Maybe—"

"Let's go in."

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 **[END of PART II]**

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 **A/Note:** See you with Part III soon! As always, any comments, reviews, thumbs up, etc. are very much appreciated!  
Thank you also to those who are taking the time to check out my other stories. :)


	6. Too Cold to Hold, Part III

**Author's Note:**

This is the conclusion to my contributions to the 2017 Graylu Fluff Week and 2017 Graylu Week. **NOTE: I have had to raise the RATING of the fic to MATURE.**

This chapter is written wholly in honour of Graylu Day. It is probably the most amount of - let's say erotic fanfiction - that I have ever written at one sitting.  
Why did it take 5500 words? I swear that it wasn't just all stalling on my part or theirs. I just tend to headcanon Graylu as a fairy steady and slow-burn kind of relationship. Their shared sense of humour is what makes them fun, but both characters have more than a few moments of self-doubt. Also, Gray isn't the best at taking chances (outside of fights), although he's really, really trying to put it on the line to make things work with Lucy in this story.

I hope you enjoy the chapter! If and when I do write more Graylu, I think I may stay in this particular personal "Graylu-verse" - see what happens after that oh so intriguing last line... ;)

 _~ Impracticaldemon_

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 **Chapter 6—Too Cold to Hold, Part III**  
 **Prompt: Fragrance (Graylu Day)**

* * *

Once inside, Gray wrapped Lucy in the comforter off the bed and tucked her onto the couch in front of the fire. She opted not to protest. They were both feeling slightly shy again, plus Gray had a point when he said that developing a bad cold on the first night of their vacation would be very frustrating. On the plus side, for once Gray had an excuse for stripping off his pants, since they were caked with melting snow up to the knees. Lucy wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed that her pyjama pants were pretty much unscathed thanks to her high leather boots.

"I'll run you a hot bath, okay? But first let's get your hair dry." He carefully unbound the simple low ponytail that Lucy had worn at dinner, and started to comb out the worst of the wind-tangled snarls with deft fingers.

"You should dry off too," Lucy murmured, relaxing once she realized that he wasn't going to yank her hair from her scalp while drying it. In fact, the gentle heat from the dying fire, and the warm cocoon around her body and lower limbs made her feel rather sleepy.

"I'll be fine," Gray told her, one hand pausing in its work and then sliding down the curve of her neck and shoulder. "I can put up with a fair bit of cold and damp, and thanks to your brilliant idea with Capricorn it was a very short battle." His last few words came out muffled, since he had begun to kiss the place where Lucy's neck met her shoulder; his hand lingered on the smooth skin across her collarbone.

Some minutes passed in silence, at the end of which Lucy reached up and dragged Gray's mouth onto hers for a strange kind of upside-down and backward kiss. Her bunny-covered pyjama top was once again partly unbuttoned; it hung most of the way off one creamy shoulder, where darkening bruises bore mute witness to how the time had been spent.

"On second thought," muttered Gray, when Lucy eventually broke off the kiss, "maybe I'd better join you in front of the fire. I should make sure that I don't get sick either, right?"

His words were the tiniest bit slurred, and it was clear that his mind wasn't entirely on what he was saying. Lucy wasn't surprised when he half-slid, half-vaulted over the back of the couch, instead of taking the extra second or two to walk around. She was pleased to see that he looked much less cool and detached than usual.

"What happened to my hot bath?"

Strong arms lifted her off the couch, and somehow the comforter was discarded onto the floor without ending up in the fire. Gray settled himself into Lucy's spot and sat her across his lap facing him. Despite his abnormally low body temperature—and the sudden absence of the comforter—Lucy suddenly felt as though the temperature in the room had gone up.

"I was hoping to find out how long it would take me to convince you to seduce me." Gray's hands slid around Lucy's waist and then partway up her back under her pyjama top. Since he was wearing nothing but boxers, his arousal was very clear and Lucy was surprised to find herself reacting to that as much as anything else. It was somehow very gratifying to elicit such unequivocal, unsubtle lust. Or at least, it was when the person who wanted her was somebody that she had chosen and was maybe-probably-almost-certainly in love with.

"Isn't that just a fancy way to say that you want to seduce me?" she temporized, her right hand braced against Gray's left shoulder in order to stay carefully upright, while her traitorous right hand slid across his _ridiculously well-defined_ chest muscles and started half-unconsciously tracing the dark blue guild mark just below his right shoulder.

Gray's hands on her skin were slightly cool, but somehow that just made it more noticeable as he ran them over the curves of her back and sides and waist and hips. Lucy actually shivered from sensation—she'd never realized that her entire middle torso could be an erogenous zone. And yet, Gray's fingers never went below the waistband of her cute, low-rise PJ bottoms, or more than a few centimeters above her navel. It was maddening. He didn't answer her question.

"You've never really talked a whole lot," Lucy remarked with would-be nonchalance. "But this is taking it to a whole new level of non-communication."

"… Sorry." Gray caught and held her gaze, and she was startled—truly rocked off balance—by what she saw in his expression. Such longing… how could she not have known? "Ah yeah… Well, let's see, um… I remember thinking how pretty you were the first time we met. You were so happy—like, incredibly thrilled, you know?—to be part of Fairy Tail. You kept looking around you with these big, mega-eyes, as if you were going to pass out from just how awesome it was." He smiled a little, obviously in remembrance.

Lucy bit her lip, first of all to keep from interrupting—and from embarrassment, because his description was far too accurate for comfort—and secondly because as he spoke he also drew her closer, and it was an effort not to close the last short distance and… she was afraid that one kiss would become many and then much more. She wanted to hear what else he would say.

"You had no idea how gorgeous you were. Not really. I mean—it was as if you knew you were good-looking, but didn't understand that whenever you lost the pose, whenever you were just _you_ … Whether it was because you were too busy helping somebody else; or we were faced with yet another insurmountable evil that seemed way, way out of your league…" He trailed off, blinked, and then pulled Lucy's head down to his in order to press a gentle, yet _hot_ kiss on her mouth, running his tongue slowly across her lower lip before drawing back. How could a cold man be so warm? When he continued, he spoke softly, his lips now close to her ear. Lucy was acutely aware of his breath against her hair and the way that her heart had begun to hammer against her chest.

"Anyway, you always took it, you know—you always put up with it. All the crazy antics, all the destruction. And you were just so unbelievably sexy. I mean, there aren't a lot of women who could compete with you on _looks_ —but you're so much more than that; you're so warm. As a person, as a friend… you have no idea how long I've dreamed of being lovers. You work, you fight, you laugh, you cry with _all_ of you. There isn't some Lucy that you keep carefully hidden away so that you can pretend to be cooler than you really are—or less afraid. I mean"—he paused for a longer, deeper kiss, bringing both hands up to cradle the back of her head. She couldn't miss the way that his thighs quivered slightly under hers, even as he prevented himself from dragging her up against the place where his erection twitched and strained against the soft knit of his boxers.

"I _mean_ ," Gray continued doggedly, his breathing ragged now and all pretence of calm gone from both voice and expression, "sometimes you're completely goofy—no, don't be upset!—we _all_ are! But I've never met anybody who wanted with all her heart and gave with all her heart the way that you do." He brushed away her inarticulate protest. "You've charmed the constellations from the sky and their king off his starry throne—who else could do it? And I'm not talking about Loke, either. Although he adores you as much as he can truly love any one person."

"You"—Lucy found it hard to formulate her thoughts. Gray had confessed his feelings for her in the first place—and thank goodness for that!—but this was just a _bit_ more intense. For one fleeting moment, Lucy wondered if she'd somehow driven him mad with lust, but that idea struck her as not only pretentious but very funny. On the other hand, she was beginning to have an inkling what it would be like.

"I'm trying to tell you—to remind you—that I adore you too," Gray put in, before she could frame what she wanted to say. "I love you. In so many ways. You"—he swallowed but went on in a steadier tone—" _you_ are the most important person in the world to me."

"And"—

"And it probably just sounds pathetic—or worse, sleazy… under the circumstances… And I'm not the most open person in the world, I know that, but you said 'talk' so"—

Lucy put one hand across his mouth. "You. Are. Doing. Just. Fine." As she spoke, she wriggled forward until she was sitting directly against his erection, finding it something of a relief to finally rub herself against it, however tentatively. It was also much more comfortable to be drawn directly against his chest.

She felt Gray tense sharply and then relax—as much as he could, that is. "Better," he said softly, as his arms tightened fully around her. She had the distinct impression that he was doing his best to feel as much of her against him as he could. Heat pooled in her lower abdomen and lower still. He was rocking himself against her and kissing her again with bruising force—first her lips and then her neck and shoulders. After what seemed like both a short and a long time, she felt fingers clumsily unbuttoning her pyjama top—he was probably just more distracted, she thought, smiling to herself.

By the time Lucy's top was fully unbuttoned, Gray had somehow manoeuvered himself more or less fully under her on the couch; being strong had its advantages, Lucy supposed. Very slowly, he slid his hands up and along the undersides of her breasts, then up and over the round nubs at their tips. Lucy had worn a soft, lacy bra—best to be prepared, right?—but even with her mind preoccupied with other things she realized that her boyfriend didn't really care about the pretty bows or the cute rosebud pattern. Well, both Cana and Mira had warned her that it was best to wear her pretty underthings mainly for herself—

The thought fled her mind entirely when Gray started to tease her right nipple, pinching it almost—but not quite—to the edge of pain and watching her reaction. She stared down at him, rather bemused, and then gave an involuntary gasp when his warm, wet mouth closed around the other nipple. The lacy cloth dampened quickly, and Lucy was embarrassed to hear herself actually moan aloud when he switched his mouth to the nub that he had already teased into complete rigidity.

"I see that I'm—um—I'm seducing you very ef-efficiently," Lucy told him in a voice that attempted humourous sarcasm and failed utterly. It wasn't as though they hadn't gotten into some serious necking before—at least recently—but this was definitely beyond those happy make-out sessions in more than just the obvious ways. _This seems a lot more… adult. But also amazing… How do people even look each other in the face afterwards?_

She suddenly discovered that Gray was studying her with a slight frown; before she could say anything, he'd pulled her carefully down on top of him and hugged her close. Mortified that she'd worried him, and not wanting him to misunderstand, Lucy tried to protest.

"I—You—really don't need to stop, I mean it. I'm just—um—you know…"

Totally lame. Now she was hot and bothered and embarrassed… and lame.

"Yeah, I hear you. Sorry I rushed you—no, really. I guess I got ahead of myself." Gray was looking up at the ceiling, but Lucy was relieved to see his lips quirk into a faint smile. "Too many daydreams, not enough patience. Anyway, you being incredibly hot isn't an excuse—forgive me?"

"Yes, fine! But _come on_ —give me some credit already! I trust you, and if I tell you 'no' for whatever reason then I'm pretty sure you'll stop and just go stand out in the snow or something. Besides…" She rubbed herself appreciatively against his leg, her toes curling slightly into his skin with the sensation. Then she sat up so that she was straddling his hips, and started running her hands over the planes and curves of his muscled chest. Honestly, he was just… "You must know how good-looking you are, right? I mean, you get a fair bit of attention wherever we go…"

Gray was distinctly flushed already, but Lucy's comment made him turn an even deeper red. "I don't count Ichiya-san among my favourite conquests, to be honest," he told her wryly, managing the whole 'light humour' thing better than she had. "Besides, I suspect that Erza will always be his one true _parfum_. And I think Erza prefers _you_ to all the guys who keep throwing themselves at her."

"Oh? Well, that's very flattering, but personally I see blue hair in her future, not blond." Lucy was feeling more settled in her mind again now, and just a little frustrated. She shrugged out of her top with something that would have been dramatic flair but for the pink-and-white, bunny-covered flannel. Undeterred, since her boyfriend was _very_ handsome and practically naked, not to mention totally adorable just now, with his cheeks flushed and his dark eyes wide with surprise, Lucy bent down and ran her teeth and tongue over one of his ears. She'd noticed how much he liked it before. An unmistakable squirm against her hips confirmed her assessment, followed by an enthusiastic affirmative when she suggested that maybe her bra could go the way of her top. Her words were a little muffled, since she was busy creating a deep hickey on his shoulder at the time.

"Fuck yes," Gray repeated with patent sincerity, his hands sliding up from her hips to dispense with the lacy undergarment. "Yes, absolutely, great idea—and did I mention that you are the most gorgeous person I know?" Despite his not-so-much-earlier concerns about moving too fast, the bra vanished with only trifling difficulty, and Lucy watched with heavy-lidded satisfaction as he once again took a nipple into his mouth and suckled. She had to keep her hands firmly planted to either side of Gray's head not to fall over from how good it felt.

"Now we're both topless for once," Lucy giggled, the pooling warmth in her lower abdomen becoming suddenly difficult to ignore. She could feel small jolts along various nerves as Gray caressed, toyed with, and curled his tongue around her nipples. The remaining fabric between them was becoming both a tease and an annoyance—not to mention distinctly damp. Lucy's earlier shyness was almost entirely gone, overcome by Gray's expressed and demonstrated desire and her own. Lust was rapidly kicking any negative thoughts to the curb.

"Okay, before I totally lose all power of rational thought," Gray mumbled, hands busy touching and stroking her skin, "I want you to know that _anything_ —literally _anything_ we do together is good for me."

Gray was in earnest, but Lucy couldn't resist teasing him. "That sounds like a challenge, somehow? I mean, I do have a whip, but no experience with that kind of"—she broke off with a gasp, as Gray put his mouth to good use. She still wasn't used to the intensity of the feeling of his skin, tongue and teeth against her. She ground her hips—and the wet, quivering spot between her thighs—hard against the man under her.

"I love your hips—did I mention that?"

"N-No…" Lucy was sweating now, her golden hair hanging in disheveled tangles around her bare shoulders while Gray explored how she felt about all sorts of fascinating caresses.

"I love your hips. And your breasts, I mean I can't even _begin_ —and your skin… I think I could just run my hand over your body for a few hours and be perfectly happy." Lucy managed an unconvinced sound between a laugh and a snort and Gray grinned up at her. "Okay, maybe not perfectly… but I'd be pretty happy. Also, you have a perfect ass and incredible thighs."

"You—look all cool and collected—but—you're just a complete—lech, aren't you," Lucy informed him, as she fought a losing battle not to giggle—or moan—as Gray's hands gripped and then kneaded her butt and upper thighs, fingers trailing oh-so-casually close to very sensitive nerves.

"Only with you."

"Really? I am not—really—complaining… but you seem to have a reasonable amount of experience at this, Mr. Fullbuster."

"Ah… But you don't understand just how much better—no, hang on." Gray somehow managed to sit up and then stand, keeping Lucy wrapped around him. He crushed his mouth bruisingly against hers, supporting her weight with one hand and her head with the other. A few breathless moments later, he said seriously, "So, this is the part where I ask if I can take you to bed… and I'd really prefer the bed to the couch, or the floor… although anywhere with you is good. I wasn't kidding when I said that I want to touch and kiss you everywhere that I can."

"Mmm-hm." Lucy found that not even slight nervousness could overcome just how much she wanted to get on with things. But she could tell that Gray wasn't done lecturing. The idea made her smile, and she kissed his nose. "Yes, professor."

Without missing a beat, he replied with "Hey, whatever turns you on. But, um, you do understand that there are all kinds of different ways to have sex right? Making love can be pretty creative…"

"I guess so?" Actually, Lucy wasn't a hundred percent sure what he meant, but Erza's secret stash of erotic fiction had given her some pretty good guesses. "But could we worry about _creative_ later? I just—look, can't you just take me to bed without the lecture? This is getting embarrassing."

Gray blinked and then grinned. "Yeah… you're right. And oh _gods_ , do I want you. I just really—it probably seems dumb… But I'm not as experienced as all that and I really don't want to do anything you hate, or hate me for later. And—"

"Now's good. Help me with my pants—you're good with clothes. Getting rid of them I mean."

Looking dazed but ecstatic—not an expression that Lucy had ever seen on the ice mage—Gray took her at her word and set her down in the middle of the bed. Then he covered her body with his and kissed her mouth, then her neck, then her shoulders, then her breasts… His weight pressing her into the soft sheets, and his skin against hers, and the feeling of his hard muscles against her breasts and belly all seemed to add to Lucy's state of arousal. She'd always wondered, a little, what all the fuss was about. She was a romantic through and through, but despite the (occasionally excessive) detail provided by Erza's collection, she hadn't appreciated until now just how incredible it could be to have somebody else with her in such an intimate way.

She heard herself whimper when Gray's hands found their way down past her belly and under the waistband of her pyjama bottoms. He teased and stroked the mound between her legs through the damp lacy panties with one hand while the other slid under her butt and somehow coaxed off her pants. By the time that those had disappeared to wherever— _who the hell cared?_ —Lucy was pressing herself upward against Gray's hand, and she'd given up worrying about sounding so ridiculously needy. The snow spirits were welcome to come and take fucking _notes_ if they wanted, as long as they didn't interrupt.

"Good?" murmured Gray, nuzzling the lowest point of her abdomen, as his thumb slowly—too slowly!—rubbed across her clitoris.

"You know damn well it is, Popsicle Brain! Stop messing around and"—indrawn breath and low moan as fingers now stroked her wet opening, caressing the multiple folds with care before sliding gently within. Involuntarily, Lucy bucked up against the hand that held her against the mattress, striving the draw the fingers deeper inside her. She barely noticed her panties being pulled down her thighs, or how her lover folded her legs so that he could slip them off altogether without actually ruining them. She assumed that Gray had somehow 'lost' his boxers by now and she was right.

When Lucy was finally completely undressed, Gray couldn't resist pulling himself back on top of her, just to feel the whole perfect, wonderful length of her touching him skin-to-skin at every point. He kissed her deeply, gauging her reaction as best he could through his own haze of lust. He had high hopes for a future of incredible sex, and he wanted Lucy to be one hundred percent comfortable being naked together.

"You're beautiful."

"You're a tease. I swear that if you don't"—Lucy hesitated, shocked by what she'd been about to say.

"Don't what? Fuck you senseless? Make you scream in passion? Beg you to marry me when we're done?"

"Basically—but, um, about that last one?" Lucy was momentarily startled out of her lust-induced haze.

"No idea what you mean," Gray told her, dark eyes gleaming at the bare-faced lie.

Lucy tried to glare at him, but he was so transparently, over-the-top happy to be lying naked on top of her— _as he should be_ —that she couldn't quite figure out what to glare about. She didn't know how she'd missed it, but he was a very physical person. Being simultaneously something of an introvert, that meant that he loved to touch and be touched—but not by very many people.

"Now then," continued Gray, when Lucy didn't say anything, I believe that I said that I would kiss you everywhere. So you just stay right here"—he kissed her lips—"and I'll get back to making you scream in passion. Oh—and fucking you senseless." He slid his body down hers to suck on a nipple, before tracing it with his tongue in a way that made Lucy twitch. He looked up at her. "And just to be clear… the next time you call me Popsicle Brain in bed—or wherever we happen to be making love—there will be consequences."

"Oh?"

Gray closed his eyes for a moment and seemed to shake himself. "Sorry… What I meant to say is—please don't. I'd much rather you used my name."

Lucy quickly shifted mental gears, realizing that he was completely serious. It actually kind of made sense. "Got it. Can I refer to you as My Lord, King of the Perverted Snow Spirits?"

"Yeah, that's fine. Or just 'my lord'. That works too."

They grinned idiotically at each other, completely in harmony. Then Gray's expression changed and he went back to kissing Lucy's breasts, one arm bracing him against the bed in order to take some of his weight, and the other arm—the other hand, really—sliding down to stroke Lucy's thighs. The way that his fingers would occasionally trail across her still wet, engorged slit made Lucy want to slap him and beg him to get on with things at the same time.

Even though she'd had some warning about his plans, Lucy still cried aloud when Gray's kisses took him between her legs and his tongue found the swollen bundle of nerves half-hidden near the top of her mound. He wasn't shy about what he was doing, either… His kiss would taste her, and the tip of his tongue would explore the folds around her opening—just as his fingers had done earlier—but he would always come back to her clit and allow his mouth to lick, to suck, to slowly circle and to tease.

After a few minutes of this treatment, Lucy was sweating and actually panting at the effort to get him to do more, press harder, just for the gods' sake take her now, or get her off and get it over with—but not stop what he was doing. She heard the noise she made when his fingers finally—gods-fucking-dammit what took him so long?!—slid back inside her and began to slide. She could feel her inner walls starting to clench—well, clench harder, and more insistently—against him. Her hips kept jerking upward against him.

From time to time, through the haze that seemed to blot out almost everything except immediate sensation, she would look down at Gray and see his half-closed eyes and intense, intent expression, and note that he was sweating too, which surprised her. Eventually, she became conscious that his movements were becoming less precise and controlled; he was panting a little, too, despite being in top physical condition.

"Can I—be inside you now? Please." It took Lucy a moment to realize that he was speaking to her, his voice rough and not quite familiar. "I meant to wait… but I don't think I can and… I'd like to be together with you. Lucy?"

He was kneeling upright now between her legs, the fingers of one hand curling gently in her pubic hair.

"Also," he added, "I think—maybe I'm wrong—but, is this the first time for you?"

Lucy nodded, embarrassed by the admission for no good reason. At the back of her mind she could feel the first tendrils of anxiety returning.

Gray gave her a lopsided smile. "Hey, don't look like that… I'm not so bad a choice, am I?"

"No, of course not!"

"Then don't lose sight of the plan." Two fingers dipped into her dripping core, and his thumb pressed tightly against her clit, making her writhe again.

"… Fuck me senseless?"

"Make you scream in passion."

Lucy's hips came up once more so that she could rub herself more firmly into his hand. Through panting breaths, she added the line he'd claimed not to have said:

"Beg me to marry you afterwards. Got it. Though I'm still thinking that last part—"

"Never happened. Hang on, need to make sure we don't have those kids everyone else is so keen on—at least, not for now…"

Of course he'd thought that one through, Lucy realized—after all, he'd planned this vacation in the first place.

Then he was back, his hands touching her in the very best way—or at least the best way for what they wanted to do right now. The thread of nervousness was back, but suddenly Lucy was also very excited—this was, absolutely, what she wanted and the person she wanted to be with. She wriggled against Gray, who she just _knew_ was hesitating.

"Get on with it, my lord." Gray's eyes flew to hers in shock and she laughed—but she really, really didn't want to wait any longer. She might or might not have an orgasm this time, but she was pretty certain there was one in her very near future whatever happened.

Then Gray laughed as well. "You never cease to amaze me."

Lucy grinned. "Give it a few minutes and I'll tell you if I feel the same way."

"Ouch!" His strong hands and fingers had been gently caressing her while she teased him, and she wasn't caught off guard when he slowly entered her.

"Mmmm…" Lucy's eyes closed involuntarily as she sorted out this different sensation. She vaguely heard herself humming softly, but all of her attention was elsewhere. Her usual optimism had managed to banish most of the nervousness, and there was no question that _generally_ her body was ready for this. If wanting an orgasm was a state of mind, then she was there.

"Lucy? You'll tell me if you're okay? Because—to be completely honest—my judgment is pretty much shot."

Lucy could feel her lover— _mine_ , she thought smugly—trying to hold back, so she started to rock against him, craving the extra friction. It really wasn't bad at all, in fact, it was pretty great. It would take some getting used to though—she could feel her inner walls trying to expand to accommodate him comfortably, and was glad that she had been so aroused to begin with.

"Fuck, Lucy!" Gray swore loudly as she deliberately thrust her hips toward him. "You're very tight, and very wet, and you're just _not_ going to make this easy for me are you?" Lucy grinned at him and ran a hand over his chest, her hips now rocking more quickly. She'd never realized that watching Gray fall apart would be quite such a turn on. He was really going to lose it…

It didn't hurt as much as she'd expected, really. Then again, mages were tough, right? Lucy ignored the slightly abraded feeling and focussed on her lover. All the cool was gone now, and all his careful patience. He moaned aloud and thrust himself deep into her, then withdrew partway and did the same thing again. It stung a little and was wonderful all at once.

It didn't take long for his movements to become less and less perfectly controlled and rhythmic. Finally, with a shattered groan, he started to climax, his fingers digging deeply into Lucy's ass, dragging her up to meet his sharp, panting thrusts. Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck, kissed him, and enjoyed the ride. Her over-sensitized body was reacting to his lust and pleasure, and to the heady power of being so completely physically connected.

As Gray came, back arching and crying out at the feeling of her body clenching around his, Lucy felt the world contract down to the two of them, and even then further down to the feeling of their bodies joined together. After a brief pause while Gray shuddered above her, head ducked a little sideways as his body rode the last obviously intense waves of his orgasm, Lucy found herself once again rocking insistently against him. She was so close…

"Just a sec…" Gray finally opened his eyes. He was leaning on his elbows now, face flushed and body unusually warm and slick with sweat. Lucy had to smirk at how wild he looked, and she was easily generous enough to understand and not resent his expression of delighted triumph. "Don't worry, it's your turn," he murmured. "Besides, you aren't senseless yet, right?"

Lucy was immensely grateful that he didn't immediately ask how she was doing, as though she were some kind of invalid. She'd always appreciated being treated as an adult. His hard kiss on her lips, followed by his hands and lips on her body reassured her that he had no intention of just leaving her hanging, so to speak. There were benefits to having lots of stamina, after all.

"Now then," said Gray, "let's see how this feels…" He put more of his weight on Lucy, and then teased a nipple back to full hardness with one hand, while the other hand slid down her toned body to rest between her legs. Finally, he lowered his mouth to her other breast and allowed his tongue and teeth to tease and nip and… well, whatever he did it felt wonderful.

Lucy gasped—she'd somehow forgotten, just a little, how good that felt. She wasn't especially tired—Gray had done most of the work, so to speak—and the soreness had faded a little… Also, the emotional associations even with the slight ache were rather electrifying, and Lucy was somebody whose mind ruled her reactions as much as her body.

Her climax hit her suddenly, making her cry out in surprise. Gray raised his head, obviously wanting to watch her face while she came. She was too preoccupied to care, focussed entirely on the way that her body experienced the rush of each muscle-clenching, nerve-destroying, shattering wave of pleasure. For the first time in a long time, maybe forever, she didn't give a damn who heard her or saw her or where she was. She blinked her eyes open to find them slightly teary—a new experience.

Gray dropped a light kiss on her forehead, but seemed to know better than to more than snuggle her close against his chest, one arm around her belly, and the other under her breasts. It was very calm, very peaceful, immensely loving.

Sometime later, Lucy felt his breath against her hair and ear. Very softly, he whispered:

"Please, please marry me and be mine forever? I love you so very much…"

* * *

 **[END]**

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 **A/Note:** I love writing for the Graylu fandom, but it's a smallish crowd... so if you've read and enjoyed this chapter, please drop me a few words to let me know in a review or comment or reblog or whatever works for your Preferred Platform (tumblr, FFnet, AO3).

~ Impracticaldemon


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